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Originally Posted by bongodriver
You underestimate the potential even a tired enemy has...remember the Battle of Britain.
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Bongo, I'm afraid you underestimate that soldiers that drink the water from their vehicles' radiators or that let themselves die in the desert are signs of an exhaustion beyond any offensive potential. It was a hard battle, but despite its mobility it became another war of friction, where who has the support and logistics on their back is more likely to win.
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I thought bad weather started bogging everything down...
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bad weather in Africa for 6 months.. really? Try and tell that to the guys in the Ardennes..
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Not strictly Monty's fault that German panzer units werent spotted nearby, it is perfectly forgiveable to have unanticipated results due to intel failiures, and that is the real reason the operation failed, bad implementation happened all the time throughout the war.
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I'm sorry, but NO. First of all, he had the cheek to declare that Market-Garden was "90% successful" (the "10% failure" probably being the fact that they lost the chance to end the war by Xmas, 17k casualties among Allied troops and last but not leasts the thousands of civilians that died in Holland because of the ensuing famine the following winter..), second thing is that the competition with Patton had the best of him: Monty had this thing that when he needed to be cautious he was reckless, and when he could go he was too prudent.
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You clearly have a particular axe to grind against certain British leaders which seems to bias your contributions somewhat.
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No, I am just talking about controversial generals, the fact that they're both British is coincidental. I can mention you a lot of non British incompetent or controversial generals if you want me to: Adolf Hitler anyone?
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I have no particular love for that pompous orifice Monty myself but not everything he achieved can be discredited.
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My opinion (which is shared by many, both now and back in the days) is that Montgomery was overrated, that's it. I'm not saying he didn't do what he had to do, but when left to organise important things his stubbornness got in the way and caused enormous damage.